1, Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an information code format and, more particularly, to a universal information code format for two dimensional (2D) bar code and an interactive information exchange system using the 2D bar code.
2. Background of the Invention
The 2D bar code symbol has been used in many applications associated with a mobile communication device. Users can use their mobile devices shop in a department store, purchase online, exchange data or information, and conduct other electronic transactions.
In most of the existing applications or patented technologies, the product information or data is directly encoded on the 2D bar code symbol. The mobile communication device scans the 2D bar code symbol and processes the symbol to obtain the needed information to conduct the electronic transactions or data exchange with a network operator.
Most of the existing applications encode thousands of characters in the 2D bar code format. However, this is still far below most of the information that is available or of interest to the user. Moreover due to form factor and user interface constraints, most of the mobile communication devices also lack a keyboard input interface. Thus, it is inconvenient or very slow to input alphabets or characters in these mobile communication devices. As a result, it has been proposed to record web address of database server in 2D bar code format. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,642 discloses a data system and method for accessing computer networks using a collection of bar code symbols. Each of the bar code symbols of the collection includes encoded data that is associated with a particular computer network address. A portable terminal scans or images a bar code symbol from the collection and establishes a connection with the computer network to access information stored on the computer network.
U.S. publication No. 20050252974 discloses an information delivery system that transmits information corresponding to an identifier, which is acquired by analyzing data image of a bar code. An information delivery system includes a communication terminal and a server. The communication terminal includes a camera, an analyzer and a transmitter. The camera takes an image of a bar code that stores an identifier. The analyzer analyzes image data of the bar code to acquire the identifier. The transmitter transmits the identifier to the server. The server includes a storage, a receiver and a transmitter. The storage stores information in association with the identifiers. The receiver receives the identifier transmitted from the communication terminal. The transmitter transmits information to the communication terminal. The information is retrieved using the identifier from the storage.
As mobile communication devices with built-in video cameras are becoming popular, there is a stronger for a better encoding technology that utilizes 2D bar code format for data or information exchange, especially for electronic transactions or secured data accessing.